Wisconsin ServicePoint 

What is an HMIS? And why is it a good idea?

An HMIS is a Homeless Management Information System, a computerized data collection tool specifically designed to capture client level systemwide (statewide) information over time on the characteristics and service needs of men, women, and children experiencing homelessness. We believe that an HMIS is of benefit to the Continuum of Care, the individual agency, and the client.

• Benefits of an HMIS
• Congressional Directive
• WISP Statistics
• Steering Committee

Benefits for Homeless Men, Women, and Children.

• Decreased duplicate intakes and assessments, the client does not have to repeat their entire story and circumstances for each agency providing services;
• Streamlines referrals, easier to identify agencies that provide the service needed, the receiving agency already has the required information on the client;
• Coordinated case management, each agency can see what the other agencies are doing, ensuring a more cooperative and comprehensive delivery model;
• Benefit eligibility, having a more complete and consistent history of the client, agencies are better able to determine additional programs/services that would be of benefit to the client.

Benefits to the Service Provider.

• Improve agency effectiveness through tracking client outcomes;
• Coordinate services, internally among agency programs, and externally with other providers;
• Prepare financial and programmatic reports for funders, boards, and other stakeholders;
• Community wide reports on the needs of clients, "gaps in service" can now be documented for the community;
• Better program design decisions can be made as there is better and more complete information available.
  

Benefits for the Continuum, and the State.

• Increased understanding of the extent and scope of homelessness;
• Facilitate an unduplicated count of the homeless;
• Identification of service gaps;
• More informed system design and policy decision;
• Supports a forum for addressing community-wide issues

The Congressional Directive.

The U. S. Congress has directed HUD on the need for data and analysis on the extent of homelessness in the United States. This includes:

• Developing unduplicated counts fo clients served at the local level (Continuum of Care);
• Analyzing patterns of use of people entering and exiting the homeless assistance system;
• Evaluating the effectiveness of these systems.

HUD Implementation.

Each Continuum of Care is to implement an HMIS designed to collect unduplicated counts of client-level data by October 2004. HUD has released a set of data standards that represents the minimum amount of data that is to be collected for each client and each service area. More on HMIS from HUD. *

WISP STATS

Selected statistics derived from the WISP database. The statistics are NOT meant to be a definitive statistical measure for homelessness or services to the homeless in WI. The attempt is far less ambitious.

The data below was entered by the WISP partner agencies. Not all data elements are necessarily provided for each client. When information is missing, it is referred to as being NULL. Therefore, as you look at the information below, be aware that the total clients included in the various statistical sections may be different for each data element.

As you view the data statistics below, you will notice a dramatic drop in the number of shelter nights provided in Transitional Shelters after April 2004. The reason for this is quite simple, and does NOT reflect any change in programs or services. Prior to September 2003, many Transitional Housing Programs used the shelter option as a way to record clients in that program, as their was no other option available. After September 2003, these clients were no longer entered here. As a result of this "mixture" the numbers for Shelter included these clients in the Transitional Housing Program. Due to extensive data review (cleanup) the shelter numbers should now reflect ONLY those clients in emergency shelter. We apologize to our readers for any confusion this may cause as they review this data.

Monthly Shelter Statistics for Wisconsin

Each year the Bureau of Housing compiles an annual report for the Department of Housing and Urban Developmwnt (HUD) on the HMIS system in WI. The Annual Report shows the statistics, as report to HUD for the year April 1, 2003 through March 31, 2004.

For a look at Homeless statistics around the country, check out Massachusetts *

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee is composed of members representing a cross-section of WISP users in the state. The group meets periodically to confer with Bureau of Housing staff on the overall operation of Wisonconsin's HMIS (which includes WISP and FrontDoor). They play a key role in the development of system wide policies, normally reviewing any new policy before it is implemented. Representing all of the users, they advise the staff of changes or enhancements needed in the operation of the HMIS.

Current membership list

The group meets periodically. The agenda and the minutes of these meetings can be found below.